


Sweet Poison

by violent_ends



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence - Lucifer (TV) Season 04, Established Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hurt Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Kidnapping, Lucifer (TV) Season/Series 04, Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV) Whump, POV Chloe, Post-Season/Series 03, Season/Series 04, Sexual Content, Threats of Violence, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-08-23 18:00:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20246977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violent_ends/pseuds/violent_ends
Summary: After seeing Lucifer's Devil face, Chloe never goes to Europe. She slowly comes to accept Lucifer for what he is and he does the same until somewhere down the line they get together. The problem is that, in the meantime, Father Kinley still has his plan to send the Devil back to Hell and he puts it in motion on his own, without Chloe's help. Or so she thinks.





	1. Chapter 1

They are bubbly and giddy as they come back home from their date. Well, technically it's Lucifer's home, but to a certain extent it's also Chloe's now. They kiss and laugh like little children as Lucifer presses Chloe against the wall of the elevator, cupping her cheeks with passion and sweetness at the same time; it's like he thinks she's made of porcelain, but knows there is steel underneath. Some things may crack her, but nothing will break her.

Chloe is breathless when the elevator dings and opens. Lucifer walks her backwards in a haste until her back hits the edge of the bar sharply.

"Ouch" she mumbles, her lips inches from his, her arms around his neck.

"Sorry” Lucifer chuckles, giving her a sweet peck. He brushes her hair away from her forehead as he stares deep into her eyes. Chloe still has to pinch herself sometimes, to make sure it's all true. _The Devil exists, and loves me like no other ever will_. She doesn't know if it's a celestial thing or a Lucifer thing, but everything he does, he does better than anyone else: partying, music, sex, and now love. Lucifer loves in a visceral way, as if every moment could be the last; ironic, considering he is immortal.

"Bedroom?” she asks him in a whisper, because he feels solid and warm in her arms and Chloe needs him even closer.

"Surely, my dear" he purrs, kissing her again. “Just let me take a swig of my scotch first, I'm thirsty.”

Chloe scoffs as he circles around the bar to take his favorite bottle and a glass.

"You know you're supposed to drink _water_ when you're thirsty, right?” she asks with her arms crossed over her chest, one eyebrow raised in amusement.

"And you know I never do what I'm supposed to, darling” Lucifer replies with the cockiest of his many cocky grins.

Chloe shakes her head and puts her elbows on the bar, her chin resting on her hands as she watches him. After pouring the scotch, Lucifer rolls the liquid in the glass before taking a single long swig of it and making an exaggerated breathy noise, like he just drank an entire lake.

"You're ridiculous" Chloe tells him with a smile of fake outrage. Lucifer puts down the glass and walks around the bar again, to press his body against hers from behind. He wraps his arms around her middle, his chin in the crook between her neck and shoulder, nestled where the light, green blouse she is wearing on top of a pair of tight jeans exposes her skin.

"Mmm, but you love me” he whispers, and yes, she does. She tries to find a sarcastic quip to that but Lucifer is kissing her ear and neck and she realizes she is done talking for the night. She turns around in his embrace and kisses him on the lips, swallowing the soft noise of appreciation that leaves Lucifer's mouth instantly.

From her position, Chloe can see the entrance to the bedroom, where they'll end up soon (if they manage to get that far, which isn't always the case). She is just about to suggest that when a small, quick movement from said bedroom catches her eye. She breaks the kiss to say something, but weirdly, Lucifer beats her to it.

"Chloe, something is wrong" he whispers, but he isn't talking about the movement, Chloe realizes. He suddenly sways on the spot like he's drunk, but she knows that’s impossible. She supports him as best as she can as he braces himself against the edge of the bar, his gaze slightly unfocused.

"Lucifer, what's going on?”

"I don't- I don't know, some- something is happening to me" he mutters, slurring the words, and Chloe is terrified because it would take maybe a month of uninterrupted drinking to get him to this state of incoherence. Lucifer's eyes fall close and he is falling, too, fainting in her arms.

Chloe doesn't even have the time to catch him and stop him from hitting the floor before something hard and painful comes in contact with her head from behind, knocking her out.

*

She wakes up in a dimly lit room. The bulb hanging loosely from the ceiling is flickering, annoying her as she squints and tries to take in her surroundings. Her head is pounding from the blow, and when she tries to lift a hand and inspect the damage, she finds out her hands are tied to the arms of the chair she is sitting on. Same goes for her ankles, secured with a tight rope around the legs of the chair, which is also bolted to the floor for good measure.

Chloe is a cop- nay, she is a detective. She knows how to keep calm in the face of danger. There are some exceptions, though. Very specific exceptions. Mostly, they have to do with Trixie's life being in jeopardy: especially after Malcolm, Chloe always worries her job will catch up to her and someone will try to get back at her by taking away who she loves most. But another exception is right up there on the list, and it's unfolding in front of her very eyes.

Lucifer, still unconscious, is chained to the ceiling and floor by his wrists and ankles. The heavy chains locked around his wrists continue up to the ceiling, where they enter two metal hoops before curving downwards on either side of him. They end wrapped around two other metal hoops, attached to the walls. His knees scrape against the floor as his body sways like a dead weight, his head hanging down between his shoulders. Someone has stripped him of his jacket and shirt, leaving him only his pants.

He looks like an animal ready to be butchered and Chloe is terrified. She mentally goes through all the people they have arrested recently, all the criminals with powerful ties that might have decided to seek revenge from jail, but she needs more elements to formulate a theory and her brain is still too slow. She also thinks about who could find them, but she’s not sure. She doesn't know if anyone saw their kidnapper or kidnapper_s_ leave Lucifer's penthouse with them. Amenadiel has been unreachable since Charlotte's death, and Lucifer explained to her that you need to know where you are for him to be able to reach you from Heaven. She doesn't know if Maze is in town or if she left to hunt a bounty, as she often does without a warning.

"Lucifer?” Chloe calls, but he doesn't answer. They must have given him a very powerful drug – tainting the whole bottle of scotch, she realizes, or even all of them – to knock him out for this long. Despite her proximity to him, Lucifer’s metabolism still processes everything at lightning speed if compared to humans. It's scary, because whoever kidnapped them probably knows he needs some kind of special treatment.

She has her back to the door, so she can only hear someone – many someones, judging by the numerous footsteps – entering the room and shutting it behind them. A man walks past her and stops between her and Lucifer. Of all the people she expected to see, a priest was definitely the last, but something suddenly clicks and she realizes it's actually worse.

_This might be about Lucifer, not the LAPD._  
  
“Good evening, my child" he says in that patronizing tone that elderly priests, specifically, seem to have mastered. “I’m sorry for this... unfortunate situation.”

He has a thick grey beard and his eyes are small and mischievous. He is clearly trying to sound comforting and apologetic, but Chloe dislikes him instantly. Not that it is too hard, considering he had her strapped to a chair and had Lucifer chained to a wall like fucking cattle, after attacking them both at their most vulnerable, their happiest.

"Who are you?” Chloe asks, narrowing her eyes at him. “What do you want from us?”

The other people she's heard make themselves known to her, settling against the wall in various points and corners of the room, mostly around Lucifer's frame. They are all wearing black suits, and their eyes are hard, stern, with no emotion behind them. Some kind of highly paid private security, she presumes.

"My name is Father Kinley" the priest replies with a smile that, she assumes, is supposed to be reassuring. He turns around slightly to look at Lucifer, _her_ Lucifer, and out of instinct Chloe stirs and struggles against the restraints. She hates not being in control, she hates that they are outnumbered, and she knows she’ll hate whatever thing they plan on doing to Lucifer. After a pause, the priest goes on.

"What we want, you'll find out very soon" he says as he turns back towards her. “But first, my dear, I shall take your confession if it's what you wish.”

"My confession?” Chloe scoffs, almost laughing. “Do you plan on killing me, Father? Isn't that against rule number one of your book?”

"No, no, no, child, no murder will be committed tonight!” Father Kinley vows, waving his hands in the still, suffocating air of what seems like an abandoned depot somewhere in the most forgotten part of L.A. – are they even in the city? How long has she been out? “I just want to give you the chance to repent for your sin.”

"What sin?” Chloe asks, one eyebrow raised. The use of the singular is oddly specific, so he's talking about something in particular. Chloe doesn't consider herself a saint, but she doesn't feel like she needs to repent for anything, either.

"Why, laying in bed with the Devil, of course.”

The smug grin dies on her lips. _He knows._ Still, maybe she could try and convince him that this is a mistake, a misunderstanding. After all, Chloe herself has been oblivious for a very long time. How hard can it be to convince someone that Lucifer's Devil talk is as nonsensical as it sounds?

"Before you sin again and lie, dear, know you can save your breath" the priest speaks up, as if he can see the wheels turning inside Chloe's head. “We've been following him for a while. We know everything. Now, back to your confession... believe me, I do understand. The flesh is weak, and he is temptation incarnate, a master of deceit.”

"Lucifer is not _deceiving_ me" Chloe spits out, as if the word itself is offending her. She is no delicate little flower, thank you very much. “He-"

"Let me guess, he says he _loves_ you" Father Kinley interrupts her, his tone so mocking that it makes Chloe bristle and grit her teeth, fists clenching against the pressure of the rope. “He says you are the love of his life, and that he has never felt like this before. I pity your blindness. You are a lost soul. Soon he will get tired of you, discard you like all the others and move onto the next.”

"You don't even know him, do you?” Chloe asks, her voice rising in pitch and rage, because it hurts, it hurts to hear someone mock their relationship but more importantly, question Lucifer's ability to love. He's come a long way and Chloe is proud. “You only know what you've been taught, or what you read. You don't know the man he is.”

"He is no man. He is the _Devil_" the priest insists, his own voice losing the hint of patience and understanding he was trying to convey. “How can you even-"

The rattling of chains stops Father Kinley from finishing the sentence. Lucifer is waking up slowly, testing his movements in confusion. He pants and shakes his head to try and get some clarity but he still struggles to keep his eyes open.

"Where am I?” he croaks as his heavy-lidded eyes scan the room. They linger on the guards and Father Kinley but it is on Chloe that they settle. His breath catches in his throat. All of a sudden he looks a bit more awake. Chloe knows he's silently panicking because she is too.

"Lucifer-"

"The Lord of Hell has awaken!” Father Kinley proclaims solemnly, almost clapping his hands together with excitement. Chloe can see Lucifer's jaw tighten at the use of the title. He doesn't go by that anymore, and also, he surely didn't anticipate a random mortal calling him that. “If you expected me to bow, I’m sorry, you'll be disappointed.”

Of course, unlike Chloe, Lucifer doesn't even try to fumble and deny it. He is too proud and fond of truth for that, and besides, there clearly is no point.

"I expect nothing from your... _kind_" Lucifer scoffs, only then looking directly at the priest. His whole body is tensing up, the muscles of his arms straining above his head. It is unfathomable how he can still look and sound threatening given the position he is in. “Who are you?”

"Father Kinley. Vatican investigator.” A new piece of information for Chloe, and definitely not a good one.

"That sounds like a soon-to-be-canceled TV show" Lucifer quips, because _of course he does_. It's Luciferness at its best, sarcasm meant to deflect. But also, it is exactly what Lucifer thinks, and whatever Lucifer thinks, he says. The priest gives a small chuckle, his attention completely on Lucifer now, his back to Chloe.

"Yes, perhaps. Well, now that we have all been introduced to each other, I think we should begin.”

Chloe swallows the dread she feels in the back of her throat and looks into Lucifer's eyes. She can't figure out if he knows what the priest is talking about. Lucifer stares back at her in his unique, passionate way; he is chained to the ceiling yet his eyes vow to protect her. She sees him turning back towards the priest. When he speaks, his voice is stern, but the stuttering and slurring from whatever is still cursing in his system betray him.

"Listen, what- whatever this is... we can deal with it. She- she doesn't have to be here.”

Chloe doesn't want to leave him like that, stripped bare and vulnerable and at their mercy, but of course it’s a strategy worth trying: once out, she could figure out where they are and get help. Which is exactly the reason they won't let her go anywhere.

"Mmm, there it is” the priest says almost in satisfaction. He walks until he can look straight into Lucifer's eyes, his hands behind is back. Chloe realizes he doesn't want to touch him, repulsed by what he is. “The Prince of Lies at work, spinning his treacherous web. Making us believe you want her out of here to save her, when the truth is, you need her away to save yourself.”

Lucifer stiffens. Chloe can't see his face from where she is, because of the priest standing in between, but she knows the realization is hitting him like a ton of bricks in this very moment. _He knows everything about us._ And it’s hitting her, too: she is here specifically to weaken Lucifer, to let them do what they want to him like they would to any human. Hell, the drug itself probably wouldn't have worked in her absence. And she will stay here, tied to a chair on purpose, until whatever this is is over.

Lucifer had quickly turned it into a non-issue when they got together, shushing her insecurities and guilt about basically putting him in constant danger. A stray bullet from a criminal trying to escape. A car running him over. God, even tripping down the stairs or in the shower and hitting his head could be fatal in her presence; the stupidest and most trivial of deaths, but death nonetheless. No matter: the on-and-off mortality is a thrill, to Lucifer. Now, Chloe feels sick.

"You really think we'll let her go?” Father Kinley continues, stepping aside to point at Chloe for emphasis. “The only woman that for some reason can make you vulnerable?”

A pause.

"Without her here, how exactly would I be able to send you back to Hell?”


	2. Chapter 2

Chloe freezes. The priest’s words ring in her ears.

“Without her here, how exactly would I be able to send you back to Hell?”

_This is not happening_, she thinks. _This can't be happening_. From the opposite side of the room, instead, Lucifer laughs. Out loud. And it actually sounds genuine.

"Right, and how do you plan on doing that, exactly?” he asks, the chains rattling in sync with the sound of his mocking laughter. “What will you do, wave a cross in front of my face or stab me with it? Pour a bowl of holy water on my head? I'm afraid you've been watching _The Exorcist_ too many times, Father.”

The priest looks slightly annoyed, but a knowing grin spreads across his face as he savors the moment. It makes Chloe uneasy.

"There's a ceremony" he says slowly. “A very ancient one, meant to bind the Devil to the Hellish Throne for eternity.”

It’s subtle, but a flicker of recognition flashes in Lucifer's eyes. Chloe is so accustomed to the minuscule changes in his gaze, now, that she can pinpoint every single emotion in its depths. Day by day since they became a couple, she has learnt how to read him almost like an open book. The ceremony exists, and it works.

"You- you can't do that!” she hears herself say, as if she is out of her body looking in. “I won't let you do that!”

The threat is hollow even to her own ears, but she doesn't care. For some reason, though, it enrages the priest more than she expected.

"Hush, woman!” he bellows, waving a hand in the air in her direction. Chloe mentally braces herself for a slap, but it doesn't come. “You should be ashamed of yourself! You would let the Devil live among mortals, leaving Hell unguarded, for your own selfish pleasure? For your own sinful, carnal lust?”

"YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO HER THIS WAY!” Lucifer roars from behind him, startling them and even the unmoving, almost petrified guards around him.

Chloe's mouth falls open as his arms pull at the chains, making the walls shake. Pieces of old and peeling paint from the ceiling fall to the floor and it looks like the chains might actually come undone from the hoops on the walls, until three guards on either side unhook them and hold them themselves, pulling Lucifer higher with the motion. Six men are holding him back and even though he still looks heavily drugged, pale and sweaty from the effort, they still have to struggle.

Lucifer's eyes are flaming red, pinning the priest to the spot, and if they could shoot actual fire Chloe is sure they would. It always makes the ground under her feet tremble, when he is this angry, but she doesn't fear him anymore. Father Kinley, on the other hand, takes a step back on instinct, but quickly regains his composure.

"Oh, finally! Satan in all his glory!” he chuckles. Lucifer is seething, his breath a low growl rumbling from his chest. If he was free, Chloe knows the priest would be flying across the room and into the nearest wall by now. “I can't wait to send you back where you came from.”

Father Kinley nods his head in the direction of a guard. The man nods in response. Slowly, he produces a thick long knife from the inside of his jacket. The air in the room shifts, from hellish fire to ice cold. The blood drains from Chloe's face and Lucifer's eyes, still red, turn away from the priest to glare at the man.

"Father" Chloe whispers, hating that she has to plead, but plead and beg she will. “Father, you said you wouldn't do us harm. Please, you- you are a man of God. You must know in your heart that this is wrong. You can still stop this, it's not too late.”

But Father Kinley is a fanatic, and all the police tactics of persuasion she knows probably won't help her here.

"I said no murder will be committed, child" he specifies. “And besides, believe me, I am doing the Lord's work. There is a gift He bestowed upon his once favorite son, a gift that is now undeserved, and I intend on taking it back. Furthermore, as effective as the ceremony will be, I just can't risk the Devil finding a loophole and flying back up here. And once the ritual is completed, I assure you, they won't grow back.”

_Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no._

"Spread your wings, Prince of Darkness" the priest says, turning fully to Lucifer. Her lover's face is twisted in an almost unrecognizable mask of fury, like a wolf who dares you to shoot at him as he stares into your soul, knowing he will eventually devour you. He pulls at the chains again but the guards hold them firmly, pulling painfully at the muscles of his arms.

"And why the _Hell_ would I do that, Father?” he sneers, pouring all his disgust and disdain into the title, lifting his chin up in pride and superiority like a god looking down on a bug. “You don't deserve to even lay your eyes on them. You don't deserve to witness _true_ divinity.”

Chloe has seen them, so she knows he's right. Lucifer's wings are... well, they are something of another world, clearly. Many times she's had to blink and shake her head to wake from a sort of daze at the sight of them, as Lucifer snapped his fingers in front of her face with a laugh. If it wasn't for him warning her of it, letting her see them only briefly each time, she is pretty sure she could just sit and stare at them for days without noticing her hunger or thirst or need to sleep.

They are not meant to be looked at by humans, and most importantly, no human should even dare to touch them without his consent. Yes, Lucifer has cut them before, but it was his decision, one he regrets now. It has taken some time but he accepts all that he is now, the light and the dark: a journey they have faced together. He is at peace with his Father now, and His gift doesn't stink of manipulation anymore.

"You talk to me about true divinity?” Father Kinley sneers back as the armed guard starts to walk around Lucifer, to stop behind his back. “You, who were cast out of Heaven?”

"You'll go to Hell for this!" Chloe intervenes, a rambling flow of words forming in her head to try and stop this madness. A man of faith will surely care about the fate of his soul, right? “They were made by God himself and only He can decide to take them away! It's not your place! It's not your _right!_”

"The Lord is on my side, I know He is" Kinley replies. It’s a lost battle, and Chloe feels hopeless. Those wings have taken bullets for her, and in time, they mended. But where they fuse with the skin of Lucifer's back, at least in her presence, his flesh is human flesh, and there is no need for a demon blade to cut.

The man with the knife settles behind Lucifer's back and grips his neck to steady himself, ready to get to work. Lucifer recoils at the touch, snapping his head in the opposite direction, his jaw set in a hard line. Chloe's wrists are getting chafed from her efforts to move, to jump out of the chair and punch as many of these people as she can, to cradle Lucifer in her arms and keep him safe.

"Open them" Father Kinley instructs again. Lucifer’s head turns back towards him, his chest heaving, eyes ablaze for a split second.

"No.”

The two look at each other for what seems like an eternity to Chloe, studying each other. Lucifer is as defiant as ever, daring the priest to _make_ him do what he wants. The problem is that, clearly, Father Kinley saw it coming and has a backup plan.

It takes another small nod for it to happen. When the punches come, it's Chloe who screams, while Lucifer doesn't make a single sound as they beat him up, despite the fact that he can feel pain like any human right now. Four men work him over, grunting with the effort while he keeps quiet, as the other two hold the chains in place. Chloe feels every blow as if it's her gut, her chest, her face. Lucifer's pain is hard to take, harder than her own. She begs them to stop again, and again, and again, but they only do when they seem satisfied. She can't really say after how long. It's a blur.

Her heart breaks as they move away from Lucifer to resume their positions, revealing the damage they have done. Purple bruises dot the skin of his torso, and he's bleeding from his eyebrow, his cheekbone, his lip. What scares Chloe the most, though, is the smug expression on his face. He will dare them to do it again, she realizes. He'll get himself beaten up halfway to death.

"Nice try" he purrs with his most devilish grin, licking blood from his own upper lip. With his eyes dark and open wide, his hair a mess, and the swaying bulb overhead casting dancing shadows on his features, he looks wild, and terrifying despite being the one who _took_ the beating.

It won't work, and Father Kinley knows it. Chloe doesn't feel relieved. She dreads what will come next. Wheels seem to turn inside the priest's head for a moment as he stares at Lucifer's panting figure, as he takes in the smile of defiance on his face. The absurdity of it all is that the old man looks immaculate, almost out of place in a room whose floor is now covered in blood. His hands are the cleanest of all, yet the dirtiest. He is not physically doing anything, but he doesn't need to.

"Fine" he concludes after his long pondering pause, breaking eyecontact with Lucifer. He gestures to another man, who apparently has been behind Chloe all along. He appears at her side and crouches down so his face is at the same level as hers, before pressing a smaller knife lightly against her cheek. Her sharp intake of breath is mirrored by Lucifer's, whose eyes turn red again.

"If you hurt her...”

"...it will be your fault, you vile creature!” the priest fills in, raising his voice in exasperation. “You are forcing my hand, don't you see? This is how selfish you are! Leading this woman to believe she matters to you, only to refuse to protect her!”

He paces back and forth, clearly uncomfortable at the notion, as if he's the one cornered, bruised, trapped. Chloe opens her mouth to try and take advantage of the opening, of his doubt, but he keeps on rambling.

"Of course, I won't have her killed, because- because I need her" he explains. He stops to look at Lucifer again with accusing eyes, pointing a finger at him. “And I won't let you tempt me into committing the most unforgivable of sins.”

Chloe finally understands why Lucifer hates it so much. _The Devil made me do it_. Father Kinley blames him even for the things he might do, for the crimes he might commit. It’s such an easy way out, to use him as a scapegoat like this. He just had Lucifer beaten up and he is consciously deciding to threaten her, yet somehow it’s Lucifer's job to not push him in that direction. How has Lucifer endured this for millennia?

"But I have to go through with this, by all means necessary" Kinley declares. “Now, I guess I underestimated your endurance, but after all, you know you'll heal in time. We can't say the same for everyone, though, can we? And we both know you are incapable of love, but I assume you must care about your... woman's... appearance. Correct?”

The man crouching next to Chloe presses the knife against her cheek a bit harder, just enough to produce a small cut. She flinches away from the sting of it instinctively, tensing up in the chair as a small drop of blood rolls down the side of her face.

"Stop” Lucifer warns, but he suddenly looks tired, drained. His voice falters. Punches did not break him, but this just might have. He is trembling and Chloe knows he is losing his resolve. When they lock eyes, she shakes her head minutely, terrified to see him surrender. He is opening his mouth to speak again and she can't let that happen. He has saved her countless times and it's Chloe's turn now, it has to be.

"Lucifer, don't" she begs, tears welling up in her eyes. “I- I can take it, like you did. We'll figure it out, we'll find a way out together, just... please, please don't-"

"We can cut the word _sinner_ into her flesh" Father Kinley pipes up. _No, no, no, stop talking, stop- _“So that when the time comes, the Lord will recognize her and punish her accordingly for laying with you.”

"Lucifer, he’s bluffing, don't listen-"

"Look at what you're forcing me to do: spoil the beauty God gave her, mark her as the lustful weakling you made her bec-"

"ENOUGH!”

Lucifer's voice booms and echoes like the sound of thunder because it's his Devil face that's doing the talking. Chloe can't help but gape at him, even though she doesn't feel her skin crawl with terror as before. It's just... weird. As supernatural as anything can get. Meanwhile, all the men in the room flinch in horror. Three of them actually fall to the floor and cover their eyes. Chloe supposes they prepared for this: it’s a completely different story when the face reveals itself to someone who has no clue about who Lucifer is. So they don't run away or cry or turn insane, but oh, they’re scared alright.

Even Kinley is, although he does his best not to show it, but the way he clutches at the small cross hanging from his neck is an unmistakable sign. Chloe still doesn't understand a lot of things so she doesn't know the amount of mental strength and concentration required to do... that, but when Lucifer's face twists back to his human, bloodied features, he looks even more tired than before. His eyes, bursting with flames a few moments ago, are impossibly soft when he turns his gaze on Chloe. They swim with pain, and Chloe knows it’s happening, this time.

"Lucifer, no, _please-_"

"I'll do it" he declares in a defeated whisper. Chloe lowers her head, crying softly. The man with the small knife retreats from her side, disappearing behind her like he was never there. The sting of his cut throbs faintly, burning when a tear comes in contact with it. Father Kinley smiles and gestures to the man behind Lucifer as if telling him to get ready.

"But Father,” Lucifer speaks up unexpectedly, his voice firmer. He grins wickedly, somehow tasting the satisfaction he is about to get from what comes next. “Remember, it’s a deal with the Devil you're making. I let you cut my wings off, and the Detective leaves unharmed. If you break it, believe me, I'll know. Something tells me I'll see you soon, and _oh,_ the fun I'll have with you if I find out you've betrayed me.”

He is fully, unmistakably the Devil now, more so than when he changes his face. His voice is laced with hints of charm and danger, honey and poison, reward and punishment. Bruised and bloodied and on the brink of destruction he slips into what he needs to be to endure this, Chloe realizes. She can't reach him now. His eyes are hard black stones and he is clearly avoiding to look at her, knowing she'll try to dissuade him, knowing she'll beg. And Lucifer can't help but give Chloe everything, everything she desires, always.

"I don't plan on seeing you ever again” Kinley replies, because of course he would think he's headed for Heaven after what he's doing, the idiot. “And I don't have to give you my word on anything, but God is watching me, so I'll say it. If you let us cut your wings and perform the ceremony, Chloe will be safe. I swear.”

Lucifer nods and takes a sharp breath, bracing himself. Chloe shakes her head no, and she knows he can see her, but it's useless.

"Good” he simply says.

Chloe recognizes the telltale, minute shrug of his shoulders a second before it’s actually happening. Lucifer’s gorgeous white wings unfurl from his back, occupying the whole room behind him. They flutter wildly for a moment, betraying Lucifer's nervousness, she knows, but he wills them to stop with another movement of his back, grimacing in pain. Now more than ever, the wings are in sharp contrast with their surroundings and with Lucifer himself, covered in sweat and blood. Their glow lights up the filthy grey room like a pale moon on a lake at night, revealing the dirty little secrets humans think they can keep hidden in the dark, mocking them with their divine perfection as if to say _I see you. You can't run from what you've done._

Everyone in the room is mesmerized by them. Chloe is too, but she forces herself to be present in the moment. Distantly, she hopes Kinley or the man with the knife will change their minds after seeing them. Talking about cutting them is one thing, but actually doing it takes guts. Maze actually told her, once. It was late and they were sitting on the couch together and Chloe, right after finding out, was desperate for any bit of information that would help her understand Lucifer, the real Lucifer, more.

Maze had defined it as the single hardest thing she'd ever done, and Chloe was sure she’d done plenty of bad, regrettable stuff in her lifetime. “It was... unholy, even for me" she'd said. “I told him I would never do it again. But you know how stubborn he is, so he decided to do it himself when they reappeared. I don't know how he managed to. Believe me, Chloe, it's painful. Not just physically, it’s... it’s like severing a piece of your own soul. Comparing it to losing a limb is an understatement. There is no way to describe it in human terms.”

The words haunt Chloe now. She sneaks a peek at Father Kinley to find him staring in awe. She grasps at that thin lifeline of hope and prays she won't have to let go.

"Father, you can't do this" she whispers, trying to sound understanding, almost soothing. “Look at them. It would be a sin, and God would punish you for it.”

He blinks several times before answering, forcing himself to look away, to be clinical and detached.

"It would be a sin to leave them on him" he says in disgust, before nodding to his executioner.

The man's eyes are uncertain, but he steadies himself and grips Lucifer's shoulder for leverage, raising the knife in the air with the other hand. Lucifer winces as his face twists in pain already, because he knows what to expect, but doesn't welcome it this time. And all of this is because Chloe is here, and because Lucifer loves her despite the fact that she is, ultimately, a cruel form of sweet poison to him, so sweet he won’t know it’s killing him until it’s too late.

That breaks her. A stream of incoherent pleas escape her lips. She doesn't even know what she's saying. It's mostly _No_ and _Stop_ and _Please_ mixed with insults and curses as her chair rocks from the bolts in the floor but doesn't budge, as she scrapes her wrists raw against the restraints.

If heartbreak could ever have a face, it would be Lucifer's as he watches her sob and unravel. The ironic thing is that he is the one who should be screaming, instead he's looking at her like he wants to comfort her and tell her it will be okay. Chloe knows it won't be, because by the time this is over, he'll be gone.

The knife is coming down, now.

"I love you" Lucifer tells her, after everything, after what she's causing. Her beautiful angel, her Lightbringer, who went to Hell and back for her.

As he lets out a scream that could tear apart the very fabric of the world, the door bursts open.


	3. Chapter 3

From behind Chloe, a lean, quick figure runs directly towards the man with the knife, pushing away the others in her way until she can knock the guy out with a punch, the knife falling to the floor. It’s only after this that Chloe sees her face, but she doesn't need to.

Maze moves effortlessly like the supernatural creature that she is, almost snake-like. Chloe has never been happier to see her, especially when she punches Father Kinley so hard that he blacks out instantly. _Finally, a taste of Hell directly from one of its torturers_, Chloe thinks. The whole fight (and it would be generous to call it a fight) is over so soon that it would be ridiculous in any other circumstance. Chloe would laugh out loud at its absurdity, if it wasn't for the fact that Lucifer is shaking, his wings flapping madly, unable to stop now that he isn't in control of his emotions.

Chloe opens her mouth to tell Maze to untie her, but Maze is already taking care of it. She breaks the ropes with one of her demon knives and Chloe's wrists and ankles hurt and pulse as they are released, but she couldn't care less. She jumps out of the chair and runs to Lucifer, cradling his face in her hands. He leans into the touch but his eyes are shut tight, his frame shaken by full-body spasms.

"Are you okay?” Chloe asks him, stroking his hair away from his forehead, careful not to touch any of the bruises. He doesn't reply, but Maze does it for him.

"Chloe, come here" she calls faintly from behind his back.  
  
Chloe doesn't want to stop touching him, needs to know he is still here, real and solid in her arms. But the demon's tone compels here to do so. When she circles around Lucifer, careful to avoid his wings and the bodies of the men unconscious on the floor, she follows Mazikeen's horrified gaze until she sees it.

Lucifer's right wing is almost half severed from the skin of his back, and the more it flaps, the more blood flows down from the cut, soaking his body as it goes. It reminds Chloe of the fake wings showcased at the auction, only this time, the torn piece of muscle she is seeing is real and pulsing with life and the blood is bright red instead of dark and crusted. The thick liquid sprays from where the knife hit, covering the pearly white feathers in hot bursts. It’s something straight out of a murder scene, but the victim is very much alive.

The smell of blood and the sight of Lucifer half-mutilated, growling in pain, almost make Chloe faint. She has never believed in anything, never judged and faced the world according to the religious concepts of right and wrong, but for the first time, now, she feels like she knows what blasphemy is. It’s what’s been attempted in this very room. Like tearing a hole in a sacred painting, or breaking a piece off a church statue, but worse, because Lucifer's wings are not a work of art made by a man in God's name: they are the Lord's own masterpiece.

"What- what do we do?” she asks Maze, her throat suddenly dry. She needs to feel useful. She needs to get to work and find a solution, whatever that might be. She needs to have a purpose, like solving an investigation. She needs to get Lucifer out of here and save him.

"I unchain him, you hold him up" Maze replies quickly, going straight to the point. Chloe is grateful for how practical her flatmate is, because she is barely holding on to sanity at this point and she can't afford to be the collected, reasonable one of the two. She walks back around to stand in front of Lucifer and hooks her arms under his, shifting awkwardly until she’s sure she’s not touching the wings. But as careful as she's trying to be, it’s impossible not to press against his bruised chest if she has to stop him from falling. Lucifer flinches, burying his face in the crook of her neck where she can feel his quick, harsh breaths.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she sobs. She tries to shut out his whimpers as Maze unchains him, forcing Chloe to tighten her hold on him as she helps him down. Maze is right there with them in an instant, breaking the cuffs from around Lucifer’s ankles and wrists without the need for a key. Lucifer is so out of it that he is biting into the skin of Chloe's shoulder as she rocks him in her arms.

"Lucifer" Maze whispers in his ear with a softness she rarely shows, a softness that Chloe knows she reserves only to him, no matter how much they bicker and fight. “Lucifer, you need to fold them back in. We can't get you through the door like this, and someone might see them.”

Lucifer lifts his head from Chloe's shoulder and slowly opens his eyes to look at his hellish companion.

"It hurts, Maze" he tells her. He sounds like a scared child and Chloe instinctively holds him tighter, pressing a kiss to his temple. “It fucking _hurts._”

"I know" Maze replies, stroking his hair from the other side. “But you have to.”

Lucifer nods, then looks into Chloe's eyes. His wings are loud, so loud; it's like the sound of a bird trapped in a cage, flying wildly in all directions, but as if you were inside the cage with it. The half-broken one flaps at an odd, unnatural angle. Lucifer draws in the untouched one, the left one, almost with no effort, then hesitates.

"You can do this" Chloe tells him, pressing their foreheads together, grounding him in the moment. She braces herself for the scream that will come, and doesn’t let his face slip from her hands when it happens. She shushes Lucifer as much as she can as the wing takes longer to disappear, almost rebelling to his will, trying to tell him that something is wrong, that it shouldn't be this way. It takes multiple attempts and when it’s finally gone, Lucifer suddenly feels heavier in her arms.

"He blacked out" Chloe realizes, out loud. After the drugging, the beating and the loss of blood, he looks as pale as a ghost.

"Good" Maze concludes, earning a piercing look from Chloe. “What? This way he won't suffer for a bit.”

They both carry Lucifer out of the room and of what looks like an abandoned power plant. Maze insists that she can actually carry him on her shoulders but Chloe can't stand to be idle: she needs her mind busy and focused on simple tasks or she'll go insane. They both handle him very carefully to avoid the bulge on his back: it looks like the severed wing is trying to break its way out, and Maze explains that until it heals, it can't fold back “in him" completely. A notion of angel anatomy that of course is supposed to make sense. Somehow. Because angel anatomy is a thing now, and Chloe clearly needs to learn more about it.

Maze usually drives a convertible, two-seat car, but somehow she seems to have known she would have to carry two people back to Lucifer's penthouse, so she probably rented the one Chloe finds parked on the side of the empty road. They lower Lucifer's unconscious body in the backseat, maneuvering him so that he’s facing downwards and the bulge doesn't press against the seat. It looks grotesque and incredibly wrong and Chloe doesn't even want to think about how much it will hurt as it heals.

"Get in, I'll be right back" Maze tells her then. She doesn't even wait for Chloe's answer before storming back inside the building.

Chloe sits in the passenger seat and locks the doors from inside, looking around nervously. She assumes that if there were other accomplices lurking around somewhere, Maze must have taken care of them already, but she can't get rid of the anxiety she feels. After roughly twenty minutes, her leather-clad demon friend comes back and Chloe unlocks the doors to let her get in the car.

"What did you do?” Chloe asks as Maze places a black bag behind her seat, puts the key in the ignition and starts to drive away. She wonders if Maze just killed all of those people and truthfully, she doesn't even know what her reaction would be.

"I tied them all, crushed their phones under my heel, and confiscated all the knives" she explains, gesturing to the bag. “I also pushed some kind of big machinery in front of the door, so they won't go anywhere until we decide what to do with them.”

"Smart" Chloe comments, not knowing what else to say. The adrenaline in her veins is slowly flowing away and she feels exhausted.

Maze drives silently after that. Chloe checks on Lucifer every few minutes from the rearview mirror, restless. She doesn't know how Maze found them – some kind of heightened sense of smell or the fact that she’s bound to locate Lucifer wherever he is – but it doesn't matter. She also doesn't know what they'll do with the priest and those men – report them, maybe? Minus the exorcism detail and the wing-cutting? Can they risk Lucifer's identity being exposed, letting forensics collect and analyze angel blood from the floor? And what if the whole Vatican is truly behind them? They know where Lucifer lives. Will he and Chloe need to get away for a while?

"You're thinking so hard I can hear it" Maze speaks up from the driver's seat, cutting through the fog of Chloe's silent (or so she thought) panicking. “Why don't you try and get some sleep? We are a few hours from the city.”

"I'm fine" Chloe lies, staring out the window at the dull landscape of God-knows-where. Of course she would like to sleep, but she can't. It’s stupid, but the last time she had her eyes closed, control was stripped from her. She doesn't want to be unconscious again. She doesn't want to have Lucifer out of her sight, even though Maze is better than her at protecting him.

"Right" Maze comments. Chloe knows her so well that she could swear she just rolled her eyes without even having to look. “So, what are you thinking?”

"That it’s my fault" Chloe confesses. “What they did to him, it- it wouldn’t have happened if we were not together. I just- I'm not sure it’s right to-"

"Don't go there, Chloe” Maze interrupts. “I mean, you’re free to stop seeing Lucifer if he doesn't make you happy, but... he chose to be with you, despite how vulnerable it makes him. It’s his decision. If you take it away from him, he will feel cheated and manipulated all over again.”

"I know" Chloe sighs, running a nervous hand through her hair. “But Maze, _look at him!_”

"I have. It’s- it’s bad, I won’t lie, but... he'll be fine, Chloe, I promise.”

"Yes, this time! What about-"

"Do you know why he wants to be with you, despite the fact that it could kill him?” Maze cuts her off again, turning around briefly to look at her. Chloe heaves a nervous breath and stares at her in silence. “Because he’s never felt more alive than when he’s with you.”

Chloe buries her face in her hands, elbows resting on her knees. Tears slip out of her eyes without her noticing. Every once in a while, one of Maze's hands rubs soothing circles on her back as she cries. At the end of the day, maybe she truly is a weakling, because she doesn’t have the strength to leave him and she knows it. One of these days she’ll be his doom and the absurd part is that Lucifer will still smile at her with love and adoration as he tells her goodbye.

Chloe doesn’t know exactly when she changed position and fell asleep. But clearly she did, because when Maze pulls over in front of Lux, she wakes up. The mental picture of Lucifer chained like a prisoner in front of her flashes under her eyelids in the confusing moment between sleep and wake, but as she jumps on the seat, she realizes where she is and relaxes.

It’s still the dead of night and the nightclub is closed - a detail that surely helped their kidnappers when they took them. Maze and Chloe carry Lucifer inside, in the elevator and to the penthouse. To Chloe, it feels like it’s been ages since their date. She tries not to remember the terror she felt when Lucifer fainted in her arms next to the bar as they walk past it. As gently as they can, the two women lower him on the bed, face down. They walk down the steps and stop by Lucifer's piano.

"What do we do now?” Chloe asks Maze, her hands rubbing together restlessly, eager to have a new useful task to help Lucifer. Now that she’s back into familiar territory she thinks of Trixie, of how much she wants to hold her, but she’s asleep and safe at Dan's and Lucifer is her priority.

"I mean, should we- maybe we should take him to the hospital instead, at least for the bruising? Should we call Linda or Amenadiel? Does Lucifer have some kind of old supernatural manual somewhere on how to treat broken angel wings?”

Maze looks at her worriedly, both her eyebrows raised. _Oh boy, I've lost it,_ Chloe realizes.

"_We_ do nothing" the demon replies, gesturing between them. “We can't risk human doctors trying to figure out what that is. Honestly, all we have to do is let him heal. It will take a couple of hours, maybe a day, I'm not sure.”

Chloe knows what she has to do for that to happen, but she can't bring herself to go just yet. Lucifer needs her... right? This is something she still has to come to terms with: the fact that, at least when he is in physical pain, the only way she can help him is by basically _not_ helping him.

"We should at least clean him up” Chloe suggests, grasping at the first idea that comes to her mind and hoping Maze will actually let her do it on her own. “Draw a bath for him or something.”

"I can do that" Maze replies instead, crossing her arms over her chest as her lips curve into a knowing smile. “Believe me, it’s nothing I haven't seen before, and in much better shape.”

"But-"

"I'm sorry to be rude, Chloe” Maze says in a higher, exasperated tone, before quickly catching herself. “But like I said, he needs to heal. This would be your cue to, you know... _leave_.”

She is right, of course. It doesn't make it any easier.

"Okay" Chloe mumbles in defeat, her heart sinking a little.

"Don't leave.”

They both jump at the sound of Lucifer's voice coming from the bedroom. Chloe turns to see him laying on his side, staring at them. Before she can move, Maze nudges her with her elbow and gives her a stern look.

"I'll convince him, don't worry" Chloe tells her. She walks up the stairs again, but stops for a moment to look back. “And Maze... thank you.”

"No need. I would never let anything happen to you guys.”

She would have referred only to Lucifer, before, but not anymore. Ever since Chloe became family to Lucifer, the same happened with Maze, like some kind of package deal. Chloe knows their bond has changed, especially since the whole Cain debacle, and knows that Mazikeen doesn’t protect him for the same reasons as before. She used to be some kind of trained right hand, compelled to keep her master away from harm; now she has her own life, but still happens to be a friend who is very skilled with knives, still unexplainably capable of knowing when he’s in danger. Chloe doesn’t fully understand it but she’s grateful for it.

She nods in acknowledgment and keeps walking, then slowly sits on the bed next to Lucifer.

"Hey" she whispers, one hand reaching down to stroke his cheek. Lucifer’s skin seems to have regained a bit of its natural color under all the bruises and wounds, and he’s smiling. He is so beautiful despite it all and Chloe aches at the mere thought of losing him.

"Hey" Lucifer mirrors, nuzzling into her palm. “Kiss me.”

Chloe could never deny him a kiss. She’ll never want to. She presses her lips to his gently, both her hands on his cheeks now, and tries to ignore the coppery taste and smell of his blood. Lucifer attempts to sit up suddenly to deepen the kiss, but flinches at the movement.

"Wait" Chloe tells him, pulling back from him. She helps him sit up and stuffs two pillows behind him, so that his back doesn't touch the hard headboard of his bed.

"Better?”

"Only if you keep kissing me.”

He grabs at the sleeve of her blouse to pull her closer again, almost on top of him, his eyes hooded and playful. As inappropriate as the moment is to make out, Chloe is glad he's already back to his horny self. It makes her feel better and surer about the future. _Things will go back to normal. He'll be okay. We'll be okay._ But she also knows Lucifer needs rest and that he will ignore this fact unless she tells him.

"Baby” she mumbles, chuckling against his lips as he kisses her again. The nickname still sounds foreign to her but she is getting used to it. “I have to go now. You have to heal.”

"Just a little long- Bloody hell!" he curses when his attempt to lift his right arm towards her pulls at the broken wingbone. Chloe knows he’s suffering but trying to hide it. After everything, he still feels the urge to protect her from pain, even his own.

"I'll have Maze text me when the wing is fine, then I'll be back right away" she promises. She hesitates then, but she needs to say it. “I'm sorry about all this, Lucifer. I'm so sorry.”

Lucifer's eyes turn deadly serious. With his left hand, he reaches out and squeezes one of Chloe's on the black sheets of his bed. Chloe can't help but tighten her jaw as she catches a glimpse of his wrist, turned purple all around by the pressure of cold metal cuffs. She silently vows to kiss it better even though the mark will be gone by the time she’s back, but it’s not a problem, because she’ll remember. She doubts she’ll ever forget.

"It’s not your fault” Lucifer tells her. “I won’t let you blame yourself.”

Chloe can't help but hug him then, not as hard as she wishes, but hard enough to remind herself he’s with her. He embraces her frame with his left arm, from his uninjured side, and strokes her hair as she presses her face in the crook of his neck.

"I thought I was about to lose you" she confesses, one of her hands ghosting over the unnatural arch of his back without touching it. “I thought he was going to take you away from me.”

"He won't" Lucifer promises, and Chloe knows he'll be a Devil of his word, like always.

She pulls back and lowers her head, thinking. She still doesn’t know what they’ll do to the men responsible and doesn’t want to upset Lucifer by discussing it with him now, although she knows he surely has some not-so-ethical ideas about it already. At the moment, she is content to know that Lucifer is safe. She also knows her proximity will continue to put him in danger and that he'll let it happen, but there is nothing she can do about it that doesn’t include ripping her own heart from her chest. So she won't, and who knows how long he'll survive the poison that is her love.

"You... you were really going to let them do it?” she asks him, because there is a part of her that still struggles to comprehend it. “For me?”

_For me, Chloe Decker. A human, a mortal, a nobody._

Lucifer smiles tenderly at her disbelief, as if she just asked a stupid, ridiculous question.

"Yes” he replies, the answer as sure as the rising of the sun in the morning. “And I would do it again. And again. Don't you know that, Detective?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally intended for this story to end here, but then I realized Lucifer and Chloe needed a much deserved we-are-so-glad-we-are-alive celebratory sexy time, so there will be a final chapter of smut loaded with feelings. If smut isn't your cup of tea, you can consider the story over, otherwise stick around! :)


	4. Chapter 4

The next evening, Chloe does kiss it all better.

The sun is setting outside when she enters Lucifer's penthouse to find him barechested, sitting on the piano bench. He’s playing the instrument with his back to the elevator, but the familiar sound of it opening makes him look over his shoulder and smile when he sees Chloe stepping in. Maze texted her to let her know she can see him now, but it’s still shocking and mesmerizing to see how quickly his back is smooth and perfect again, creased only by the hard lines of his shoulder blades shifting as he grazes the ivory keys in front of him.

It’s a classical tune, a calming melody. It drifts through the air and calls Chloe to him until she’s sitting on the bench next to Lucifer. She drops her purse to the floor and just stares at him playing for a moment, until he decides to stop and stare back, his torso now turned in Chloe's direction.

"Hi" Lucifer greets her.

"Hi" Chloe responds automatically, almost in a trance. She remembers every single cut and wound and bruise on his skin, and now they’re just... gone. She can’t help but take in the lines of his face and chest as if she’s seeing him for the first time, trying to chase those ugly memories away.

"You're okay" she tells him and herself, just to make sure. She reaches one hand up to skim her fingertips along his eyebrow, his cheek, his jaw, down his neck, over his collarbone. Lucifer looks almost fascinated by _her_ fascination, as if he can’t truly understand what’s so weird to Chloe.

"I am" he confirms, his voice low and reassuring. He gently lifts his own hand to stroke Chloe's cheek, where the knife left her a small, red cut. He traces the crusted line delicately with his index finger, and Chloe stops the wandering of her own fingers to let him. Lucifer’s eyes turn sad and somehow ancient, reverent. Chloe knows he doesn’t like to be reminded of her mortality, or her body's inability to endure whatever comes its way. He doesn’t like to be reminded of how fundamentally, existentially different they are, and Chloe doesn't, either.

"Don't worry about it" she feels the need to tell him, mirroring his position to stroke his cheek from the other side. It’s just a small cut, it’s nothing compared to what he went through, but Lucifer seems to live with the conviction that just because wounds disappear from his skin, they don’t leave a mark inside.

He doesn’t seem particularly chatty today, because he doesn’t answer her. Instead, he takes the hand Chloe just placed on his cheek to bring it between their faces and look at it. His thumb moves over the purple sign of the rope that was tied around her wrist, making her hiss slightly.

"I'm sorry" Lucifer tells her quickly. He searches for some kind of permission in Chloe’s eyes as he brings her arm up to his lips to kiss her pulse point, staring at her intently. Chloe shudders as a jolt of arousal shoots through her, ridiculous considering how feather-like the touch of his lips is, or maybe it is precisely because of that. Lucifer's tongue flicks out to trace a prominent vein and Chloe didn't specifically come here for this but suddenly she needs more. She needs _him_.

They move toward each other in the exact same moment, their bodies crashing together in a searing kiss that lets them know they’re alive. Lucifer grabs a handful of Chloe’s hair as their lips rediscover each other hungrily: it hasn’t been that long since their last time but it feels different, heated and desperate, because they both thought they would never see each other again. Chloe doesn’t even break away from the kiss as she briefly stands and then straddles Lucifer’s waist on the bench, her back pressing against the piano keys, and doesn’t complain when Lucifer’s body starts rocking up to the rhythm of their kiss, pushing her against their sharp edge.

She moans in Lucifer’s mouth when she feels him already hard between her legs, and ruts against him shamelessly because it drives him mad with lust and Chloe just decided she wants him to fall apart today. Lucifer’s mouth goes slack for a moment against hers, his chest rising and falling with his harsh panting breaths, before he frantically pulls Chloe’s shirt out of her jeans and over her head. He tosses it to the floor and wastes no time in unclasping her bra and getting rid of that too. Then he's on her again, cupping and squeezing one of her breasts as his other hand pulls her head back to expose her neck so he can kiss it and bite it.

Feeling his hot naked skin against hers is like a balm to Chloe, and wherever he touches, with his hand and mouth and hips, she’s whole again. She’s never felt more desired than with Lucifer, and today he seems less inclined to drag it out than usual. He always likes to take his sweet time making her come undone with his tongue and his fingers and Chloe loves it, but today she'd let him take her right here with no preparation, perched uncomfortably on the piano keys as their movements create a loud cacophony of contrasting notes.

"I need you” Lucifer murmurs as he mouths at the skin of her neck, his fingers now squeezing her hips possessively, and Chloe thinks _You can everything of me, everything you want._

"I'm all yours" she replies instead, and it works just as well. Lucifer doesn’t need to be told twice: he lifts her up effortlessly and carries her into the bedroom, Chloe's legs wrapping around him as they kiss again.

Lucifer lowers her on the bed and gives her a parting kiss before moving down her body to undress her. After he’s taken off her shoes, jeans and panties, Chloe sits up and helps him get rid of his pants and underwear. They are both naked and kneeling in the middle of the bed when they’re done, and the height difference should make Chloe feel small or vulnerable, but nothing is more empowering than the way Lucifer looks down at her with pupils dark and hooded with desire, a single strand of his unkempt hair falling over his forehead.

And as much as Chloe wants him inside her right away, deep in a place where it feels like he always belonged, she realizes she wants to make him feel cherished first. Because if she can’t be there when he heals from bullets and blades, the least she can do is put his soul back together and let him know he is loved.

"Lie down on your stomach" she tells him, trying to ignore the confused look on Lucifer's face. It quickly shifts into his trademark playful smirk and Chloe rolls her eyes internally at the sarcastic quip she knows is coming.

"Are you going to try something kinky on me, Detective?” he chuckles, but still complies and lies down, his face nestled on top of his crossed arms on the pillow. “I didn’t take you for the type.”

Chloe shakes her head and crawls after him until she’s straddling his hips. This is new for her and for them, because usually it’s Lucifer the one in control of the situation when they are in bed, a stark contrast to their dynamics on the job. Thrilled by the prospect, Chloe presses her thumbs firmly from the center of Lucifer's back and moves them upwards, massaging the hard muscles until she reaches his shoulder blades. Somewhere down there, without a reasonable explanation, Lucifer’s wings are tucked inside his body, and with her thumbs Chloe traces the imaginary halfmoon-shaped curves of their base.

Lucifer draws in a sharp breath when he realizes she is doing it on purpose, pressing her thumbs repeatedly along the two patches of skin that used to be scars but are now smooth. He seems tense at first, but slowly melts into the mattress, lazily pressing down with his hips to find a bit of friction.

"Is this okay?” Chloe asks him for good measure.

"It’s fantastic" Lucifer replies in a long sigh, and it’s so good to feel him and see him this relaxed that Chloe never wants to stop. He is always this cool and collected, with his perfect hair and his perfect suits, that she gets a thrill out of seeing him lose his composure. So she replaces her thumbs with her lips, draping herself over his back, and smiles against his skin when she sees him grip the pillow out of the corner of her eye.

Chloe focuses on where the once-injured wing is supposed to be, tracing the curve of it with the tip of her tongue. Lucifer _shudders_, and Chloe can’t help herself: she wants more.

"Will you... open them for me?” she whispers.

Lucifer tenses up, and she understands why. The last time someone asked him the same question, he almost lost his wings. Chloe knows he trusts her, but she also knows he doesn’t like to be vulnerable and at someone else’s mercy. But she needs to show him he can let his guard down, with her. That not everyone is out to get him. That she will never hurt him, not intentionally at least, because she can’t control the way people use her to weaken him, but she can make up for it with her actions.

The pause stretches on for far too long, though, so maybe it was a terrible idea after all.

"You- you don't have to, I just-"

"I want to" Lucifer finally speaks up to say. Chloe sits up on his hips again, leaving him space. She realizes she’s never seen him spread them from behind, only from the front. So it’s a whole new experience, when she sees his skin shift to accomodate the base of the wings. It’s like water rippling after you throw a rock in it; the skin undulates in small waves until it’s calm again, but it’s literally a split second: blink, and you’ll miss it.

The wings stand out against Lucifer’s black sheets and as always, Chloe’s mind goes blank at the sight of them. But today is about Lucifer, so she shakes her head to get some clarity and focus on him again.

"I would say that my eyes are up here, but you can’t see them either” Lucifer quips, making Chloe chuckle.

"They are just so beautiful" she says, unable to mask the dreamy sigh that escapes her lips. Because they are, and to see them from up close is a privilege reserved only to her in the whole world, as far as she knows. She hates herself for dismissing how important they were the first time around; God, she’d mocked Lucifer for being into _cosplay_. She has been so blind, but her eyes are wide open now. And if a small cut on her cheek is the price to pay for her own exclusive little piece of divinity, so be it: she’ll wear it with pride and she’ll be glad to be reminded of it everyday.

"You only love me for my looks and my wings" Lucifer reprimands her playfully to fill what must be an awkward silence to him, peering back at her from the gap between the feathers. “I also have a brain, you know.”

Chloe slaps his side lightly, then reaches her hands out, this time to touch where wings and back meet. She traces the arch of the right one, now perfectly fusing with Lucifer’s body, with no sign of blood or scarring whatsoever. She wonders how much pain Lucifer endured in the whole day she hasn’t seen him for it to get back to this state of immaculate perfection, but she won’t ask. Instead, she strokes the feathers with the back of her hand and then her palm, from the short ones at the top to the long ones at the bottom.

They have never done this, ever, and Chloe feels a bit guilty because judging by his murmurs of appreciation, Lucifer is really enjoying it. So she switches to her lips again, kissing along the crease where feathers turn to flesh as her hand keeps stroking the left wing. Lucifer moans out loud, rutting down into the mattress, and yes, this is exactly what Chloe wants him to be doing today. She kisses and licks and bites as Lucifer keens and whimpers under her. She doesn’t know if all wings are meant to be this sensitive or if this is a psychological thing, maybe connected to the fact that Chloe is taking care of his most vulnerable part, the one that defines what he is. The one they almost took away from him, in front of her eyes.

"Chloe... please...” Lucifer whispers, lifting his head from the pillow – he never, ever begs for anything, just takes what he wants, so Chloe feels particularly victorious. “Please, I need you now.”

He also needs to be back in control, she knows. There is only so far she can push, and especially after how powerless they made him, after they chained him and beat him and cut him open, Chloe will give him whatever he wants to feel like himself again. So she moves away from him and lies down on her back on the mattress, and Lucifer doesn’t skip a beat: the wings are gone, and his body is on hers now. Their hips meet in sync with their mouths and the friction between them is hot and slick and perfect, because Lucifer’s moans from before have already aroused Chloe so much that she doesn’t need anything else. She might come just from the pressure of his hardness grinding against her, and that won’t do at all.

"How do you want me?” she whispers against his mouth, her hands on his ass to push him down and close, his arms on either side of her head. “You can have me any way you like.”

The prospect of infinite possibilities is a turn-on for someone like Lucifer, who considers the whole world as something ready for the taking and doesn’t see the point in holding back. His eyes grow darker as they silently ask her if she means it, as they search her gaze for permission. They seem to find what they were looking for because in the next instant, Lucifer flips Chloe on her stomach and pulls her up with him until she is upright in front of him, her knees on the bed and her back flush to his chest. He maneuvers her by her hips until she is basically sitting in his lap. Chloe can’t do anything this way: she can barely touch him. All she can do is hold on to him, sneaking one hand up to tangle in his hair and one down to squeeze at his back as he finally, finally fills her, moaning low and deep in her ear from behind.

Chloe is at his mercy as he sets the angle, the pace, the position of his hands on her body. They wander everywhere as he rocks into her languidly, stopping every now and then to cup her and stroke her where their bodies become one but never for too long, before moving back up her stomach to pinch at her nipples until she whimpers. It’s Lucifer who decides when to turn her face back towards his to kiss her, swallowing Chloe’s cries of pleasure.

She is an instrument in his hands and she knows Lucifer doesn’t need instructions to play any music, including this. One of his arms wraps possessively around her middle as he shifts slightly into her to hit _just right_. Chloe can feel his grin against her neck when she moans his name, and the way his fingers squeeze at her hip every time she keeps saying it in time with his thrusts. He is everywhere, inside and around her, and Chloe doesn’t want it any other way. His lips are hot and firm as they suck a bruise into the side of her neck, his other hand broad and secure as it cups her breast and rolls her nipple with its thumb, and with this position there isn’t a point their bodies are not touching.

"I'm- I'm close" she almost tells herself, waking up from the daze that is Lucifer making love to her, holding her up and close in the middle of the bed as he gives and takes pleasure as he wishes.

"Come on then" Lucifer encourages her, and on the next thrust upwards he stays buried inside, rocking purposefully inside of her instead of pulling out and pushing back in. The dragged out pressure and firmness of him filling her are almost enough, but it’s his voice that sends Chloe over the edge as he whispers in her ear, “Come for me, Chloe.”

_Oh, anything for you,_ she thinks.

She never feels more cherished, almost worshipped, than when Lucifer lets her ride the high of her orgasms in his arms. He moves a loose strand of hair away from her face, tightens his hold on her as if he wants to shield her from something, and talks her through it with a low, soothing, impossibly erotic stream of “Yes, yes, yes, yes". Chloe slumps back against him once the waves of pleasure wash over her and retreat, leaving her spent. He is still hard, buried inside and shaking with restraint, but as always he'll wait for her permission to start moving again.

Chloe turns her face to the side to look at him, and finally they lock eyes. There is pent-up frustration and anger in Lucifer’s – not at her, never at her – and he needs to vent his emotions before they end up consuming him. Usually he finds an outlet in his piano, where he was sitting when she walked in, but she knows it wasn’t enough.

"Let it all out, Lucifer" she tells him, unlocking the tight grip she’s had on his hair this whole time to cup his cheek. “I can take it.”

It is the same thing she said in that room, that dark, filthy, ugly room, but of course he wouldn’t let anything happen to her and she knows he already feels guilty for that stupid cut on her cheek. But it’s only them now, and the same way Lucifer trusted her enough to spread his wings with his back to her, she knows she can give him power over her without him taking advantage of it. Of course it’s supposed to be like this in any relationship, at some point or the other, but Lucifer has the strength of at least ten men in his body, and it’s a testament to his character how gentle he is in bed, always using probably less than 1% of the force he can muster.

Chloe is in the arms of the Devil, and she’s never felt safer.

Lucifer closes the gap between them with a firm, close-mouthed kiss, his eyes shut tight as he breathes harshly through his nose. He keeps shifting his hips slightly inside her, unable to be completely still. Chloe is sensitive and knows it will hurt a bit, but she welcomes it. Creepily enough, there is a part of her that wants to be punished for the danger Lucifer faced because of her presence, not that he would ever intentionally punish her for anything. It’s probably not that healthy for Chloe to think in these terms but she hopes it will go away once Lucifer finds the release he desperately needs.

After their lips part, he places a hand between Chloe’s shoulder blades to push her down on her knees, her elbows now resting on the sheets. That same hand holds her by the shoulder as the other one settles on the opposite hip, the perfect grip and leverage for Lucifer to push forward instead of upwards now. Chloe moans at the overwhelming mix of pain and pleasure of it as he starts moving again, his thrusts harder, shorter, quicker. It’s dirty and rough and with no finesse whatsoever, her moans and his grunts joining the sound of the bed rocking under them.

Lucifer's thighs slap loudly against Chloe's behind as he takes her harshly, holding her in place like she's a prey trapped in his claws. Chloe struggles to keep her head up, so she presses her cheek against the sheets, the fabric muffling her pants and high-pitched whimpers.

"Harder" she encourages him against her better judgement every time she feels like he's slowing down out of shame or fear of hurting her. "Harder, Lucifer, come on."

His moans are laced with sheer desperation as he complies, probably hating that this is what he needs to do to vent, but Chloe will never resent him for it. She is his partner, his companion, his lover; she knows what's best for him even when he doesn't, or when he tries to deny it to himself. Her body doesn't shy away from his roughness, instead welcomes it along with his gentleness, because both are part of what he is, and Chloe loves _all_ that he is. It's been a long road but she truly does, now. It's almost liberating, and pinned to the bed by Lucifer's strong, firm grip, Chloe feels strangely free.

After a while Lucifer’s movements begin to stutter, signaling that he’s close. Usually he can go on for far longer but he has so much suppressed emotions bottled up inside. Chloe thinks she knows them all, but she doubts she can fully understand. He feels betrayed by humans who do nothing but blame him and despise him, and enraged at the way they hurt him, and maybe her too. He has the grace of the angels and the fury of the Underworld in him, capable of the softest of touches and the hardest of blows, and it’s difficult to maintain the balance, sometimes.

Chloe whimpers softly as Lucifer releases his grip on her to cover her body completely with his own, his fingers now intertwining with hers, his chest pressing her down until she is sprawled on the sheets. He is completely on top of her now, his legs slightly parted to keep hers open. Biting down on her shoulder, where he did in pain as she rocked his injured body in her arms, he pushes hard and deep and then he's coming, shuddering with a growl that is half a sob. Chloe is throbbing and oversensitive, but feels empty when he slowly pulls out, slumping fully on top of her.

She waits for his breathing to slow down, then gently sneaks out from under him to turn around and wrap him in her arms. Lucifer follows her movements and lets her maneuver him like a ragdoll, until his head is nestled under her chin. Chloe rubs soothing circles on his back and presses a soft kiss to his hair. It’s been draining for her, but maybe even more for him.

"I'm sorry I got carried away" he mumbles against her skin, his hands mirroring hers as they stroke Chloe's back.

"Don't be. I wanted you to.”

Lucifer lifts his head from their embrace to look at her. His eyes are shining and his smile seems proud.

"You always know what I need, don’t you, Detective?”

Chloe rolls her eyes at the title: at this point it’s more like a term of endearment, one he manages to slip into any sentence, making it sound sweeter than it’s supposed to be.

"I like to think so" she smirks, then kisses the tip of his nose. Lucifer’s face scrunches up in amusement. He looks and feels more relaxed, and Chloe hopes she accomplished her mission. She holds him close as she thinks about everything that happened and closes her eyes, lulled by his now even breaths.

As it turns out, they won’t have to skip town after all. In the day Lucifer has spent healing, Chloe and Maze have worked side by side to make sure those men won’t ever bother him again. Maze provided her with pictures of the guards' faces, still tied to each other in the power plant, and through a quick search they found out they were all bounties, hired assassins and cutthroats on the loose. So Maze brought them in, pretending she had found them on her own. Once away from Kinley's influence, they didn’t speak of beating up the Devil or trying to cut off his wings, and even if they did, Maze had the place cleaned discreetly of any trace of Lucifer’s angelic blood.

Inquiring about the priest actually required Lucifer’s intervention through his intricate web of favors. A friend of a friend of one of his acquaintances, who lived in Rome, let him know Father Kinley had actually been excommunicated for his violent and unorthodox methods in his search of the demonic and was to be tried for his use of torture in Vatican City, but had escaped capture and left. That same friend is currently on his way to L.A. on a private jet to pick him up and deliver him to justice while Amenadiel, called specifically from Heaven, stands guard at the door when Maze can’t. There are perks to Lucifer’s association with very rich, shady and powerful people, Chloe admits, although she doesn’t want to think about what favor Lucifer granted this man for him to jump on a plane and cross the ocean just to repay him.

All things considered, it’s the best she could have hoped for, because otherwise she knows she would have been forced to contemplate a way more drastic alternative, one Maze was more than happy to carry out. But if Father Kinley so much as tries to set foot in the city at some point down the line, Chloe can’t be sure of what she’ll do to keep him away from her guardian Devil for good.

She opens her eyes to peer down at Lucifer and realizes he fell asleep in her arms. He finally looks at peace, his lips curved in a small smile as his hands, even in sleep, clutch at her back. Even Chloe feels better, her nurturing nature fulfilled. She has taken care of him, in her own way.

At the end of the day, she _is_ poison, but antidote just as much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read, commented and left kudos for this story! See you next time inspiration strikes! Cheers ❤


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